SCB Steelers’ Quick Hitters: The “Secondary is Primary” Edition

In the Steelers’ win over Tennessee, the defense recorded four interceptions. That, along with a big night from the offense, overshadowed shaky play from the secondary which resulted in some big plays for the Titans. This past Sunday, the secondary could not turn over Brett Hundley who entered the game with two touchdown passes and seven picks. We discussed the issue last night on the Steel City Blitz Podcast. What’s happening is that the loss of Joe Haden combined with Mike Mitchell’s inability to practice fully due to injury and Artie Burns disappointing play, is that this unit is struggling to communicate. But it goes further than that too. The lack of basic fundamentals is crushing these guys. Late breaks on the ball and horrendous open-field tackling are other significant culprits. With A.J. Green on the docket this Monday and that team from Boston coming as well, this secondary needs to get healthy and needs to communicate better. Otherwise these issues will mount and team success will suffer.

If the New York Giants were benching Eli Manning for the rookie Davis Webb, I would understand that move a lot more than I do with benching him in favor of Geno Smith. Smith has over 30 career starts. The book on him is well-known. You’re 2-9, why not start the rookie and see what you have? Either way, this was poorly handled by New York. Manning didn’t deserve this.

Kudos to Ben Roethlisberger for not taking the bait when asked about the Patriots. As I said Monday, the Steelers need to focus on back to back divisional games first. Looking past your opponent is a recipe for disaster.

Tweet of the Day… No Hines….. Please tell me you’re not going on this show…

JerseySteel: Hi Ed – I traveled from the Jersey Shore to Pittsburgh for the Steelers game Sunday night. In the limited number of times I have made it to Pittsburgh for a game – I have never seen a double shot of Renegade before. Do they do that often? Ed Bouchette: No, I think it was a first. And lord knows the Steelers defense might have needed a third rendition Sunday night.

For a guy that has been at every Steelers’ home game since dinosaurs roamed the Earth, you’d think he’d know this. Renegade has been played twice before most recently on Christmas Day against the Ravens. Before that it was done against the Raiders in 2015.

There was a report last night that said Mike Tomlin took over play-calling duties from Keith Butler in the second half. I’m not saying that it’s wrong but this would be very unlike Tomlin. Our sources have not heard this for what it’s worth.

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Marc Uhlmann is a Co-Owner of and Writer for steelcityblitz.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteelDad and follow the site @SCBlitz. He is the host of the Steel City Blitz Podcast and has been known to offend fans with opinions they fear are true.